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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Tonight, Heather McGregor is taking a flight across a continent.
Well, that’s how the violinist likes think of Symphony in the Valley’s newest show.
As she put it, “A Tour of Europe” is a fast-paced international journey, one “never staying very long but enough to get a taste of the local flavor, local musical styles.”
It will be a mix of recognizable songs and obscure ones, happy and intense ones, she explained. And it will have only a hint of Christmas.
Yet, conductor Carlos Elias joked that he’s no “Grinch.”
He just wanted “to give the public a tour of the different countries,” he said.
He knows that often, classical music is slapped with the title of “boring.” In his opinion, it just doesn’t have to be that way. Classic orchestral pieces, especially from the Romantic period, are his favorite kind of tunes. They can be illustrative and dramatic, very theatrical at times. During the show’s excerpts from “Carmen,” he thinks it will be easy for people to close their eyes and imagine flamenco dancers. In the bits from “The Nutcracker,” they can visualize how the “Russian Dance” and “Chinese Dance” might look on-stage. They don’t have to be steeped in musical knowledge to understand all that. Hopefully, he feels, they’ll experience something, hear something, become part of something and be moved by these songs. Hopefully, they’ll come back to see more Symphony in the Valley shows.
“We’re trying to get the whole region excited about the orchestra and classical music,” he said.
That open, all-inclusive approach to the genre is his present to the area.
That’s what McGregor calls it, at least.
A member of the group since it began in 1993, she’s seen the effects of its music on the psyche. After a decade and a half of watching audiences, she can gauge what their responses might be. She knows that if a Finn hears Elias’ selection of “Finlandia” by Jean Sibelius, the nationalist piece might move the person to tears. If people listen to Edward Elgar’s “Nimrod,” they might feel calm, as though they are underwater.
From the articulate way she described those emotions, it was clear that she felt similarly about the songs — even more so, probably. The more she studies these pieces, she went on, the more they come to mean.
“When I’m playing, I’m not thinking about anything else,” she said. “All my other worries and concerns and everything just disappear, and I get completely carried away by music.”
When the orchestra’s audience feels the same this weekend, that really will be a gift.
Well, that’s how the violinist likes think of Symphony in the Valley’s newest show.
As she put it, “A Tour of Europe” is a fast-paced international journey, one “never staying very long but enough to get a taste of the local flavor, local musical styles.”
It will be a mix of recognizable songs and obscure ones, happy and intense ones, she explained. And it will have only a hint of Christmas.
Yet, conductor Carlos Elias joked that he’s no “Grinch.”
He just wanted “to give the public a tour of the different countries,” he said.
He knows that often, classical music is slapped with the title of “boring.” In his opinion, it just doesn’t have to be that way. Classic orchestral pieces, especially from the Romantic period, are his favorite kind of tunes. They can be illustrative and dramatic, very theatrical at times. During the show’s excerpts from “Carmen,” he thinks it will be easy for people to close their eyes and imagine flamenco dancers. In the bits from “The Nutcracker,” they can visualize how the “Russian Dance” and “Chinese Dance” might look on-stage. They don’t have to be steeped in musical knowledge to understand all that. Hopefully, he feels, they’ll experience something, hear something, become part of something and be moved by these songs. Hopefully, they’ll come back to see more Symphony in the Valley shows.
“We’re trying to get the whole region excited about the orchestra and classical music,” he said.
That open, all-inclusive approach to the genre is his present to the area.
That’s what McGregor calls it, at least.
A member of the group since it began in 1993, she’s seen the effects of its music on the psyche. After a decade and a half of watching audiences, she can gauge what their responses might be. She knows that if a Finn hears Elias’ selection of “Finlandia” by Jean Sibelius, the nationalist piece might move the person to tears. If people listen to Edward Elgar’s “Nimrod,” they might feel calm, as though they are underwater.
From the articulate way she described those emotions, it was clear that she felt similarly about the songs — even more so, probably. The more she studies these pieces, she went on, the more they come to mean.
“When I’m playing, I’m not thinking about anything else,” she said. “All my other worries and concerns and everything just disappear, and I get completely carried away by music.”
When the orchestra’s audience feels the same this weekend, that really will be a gift.
A tour of Europe
What: “A Tour of Europe,” Symphony in the Valley’s winter concert, featuring mostly Romantic-period pieces from multiple composers
When & Where: 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Glenwood Springs High School Auditorium and 4 p.m. Saturday at the Grand Valley High School Auditorium in Parachute Cost: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $6 for young people (ages 3-18) and $30 for families. Music students are admitted free. Tickets are available at the door. More information: www.sitv.org Why? Feast on a vast musical buffet, provided by your local orchestra. |
